Your lab report is worth a total of 80 points.  Here 
is a general guide as to how these 80 points will be 
distributed in Fall 2005.

Title Page with Abstract:  ~5 points

   Are your lab partners listed?  Does the abstract
adequately describe the experiment and the major
result(s) in a concise manner?

Introduction, Equipment List, and Procedure:  ~0-3 points

   This is mostly a repeat of material already in the 
lab description.  Unless your TA specifically asks you 
to include these topics in your report for a particular 
lab (this would occur only if all 10 lab sections were 
asked to include these three topics), they may be omitted 
(except in the rare case that your procedure differs from 
the procedure outlined in the lab description).  If you are 
asked to include these topics, be as brief as possible.  
The Introduction should essentially be a summary of any 
equations that you will be using (even in a word processed 
report you may choose to handwrite equations), and the 
Procedure should be written with the least number of words 
required for the reader of your report to confidently 
repeat your measurements.

Results and Analysis:  ~50-60 points

   This section presents your data and your calculations.
You do not need to recopy your data, but you do need to
give directions to your reader so that all data can 
easily be found.  All of the pages in your lab report
should be numbered, and directions to relevant data 
should include the page number and, in some manner,
location on the page.  For example, suppose you have
three sets of data on page 5 of your report, where page 5
is one of your signed data sheets; you might label these
5A, 5B, and 5C, and refer to them as such in this section 
of your report.

   The presentation of your calculations is the critical
section of your lab report.  This section in particular
may be awkward to word process; but, if handwritten, it
must be neat and readable (it must contain COMPLETE 
SENTENCES).  If your analysis includes calculated columns
in GA, then one example of each such calculation must
be included here.  In addition, all error propagations must 
be shown carefully in this section.  It is possible to have 
some calculations on your signed data sheets; however, if 
so, they must be neat and readable, and you must give 
adequate directions to your reader so that those 
calculations can easily be found.  

   In general, error handling will be worth ~6-12 of these
50-60 points; however, the actual value may be more or less;
for example, in a few labs, you may be asked to ignore errors 
or to handle errors qualitatively, in which case errors would 
be reduced in significance (again, this would only be true 
either for all 10 lab sections or for none).

   Failure to include units will in general be a deduction of
4 points for each occurrence, up to a maximum of about
12 points.  Use of an improper number of significant figures 
will in general be a deduction of 2 points for each occurrence, 
up to a maximum of about 8 points.  Failure to label axes of 
graphs or columns of data tables will in general be a deduction
of 4 points for each occurrence, up to a maximum of about
12 points.

   What is to be done if a particular three-member lab 
group follows the wrong procedure, and thus gets data
that is radically different from the data expected for
the lab?  Such situations must be treated on a case-by-
case basis, but a general rule is that the data and the
interpretation of the data must be physically reasonable.
No points will be given for data or interpretations
that are physically outrageous.

Discussion and Conclusions: ~15-25 points
 
   You may combine these two sections unless specifically
directed not to do so for a particular lab (such an
instruction would be given to all 10 sections or none).
The quality of your writing is most important for this
section.  ALL of your results are summarized here.  This
is not the place to show calculations, but it is the place
to present the final results of your calculations; that is,
the numbers are repeated here -- do not simply give
directions as to where the numbers can be found.  ALL
comparisons requested in the lab description should be
made here.  ALL questions asked in the lab description 
should be answered or discussed here.  Be sure to use 
separate paragraphs for the separate sections of the lab.  
If you are asked to separate these two sections, then the
Conclusion is similar to the Abstract -- a concise summary
of what was done along with the major results.

   DISCLAIMER: This page is only a general guideline for 
the distribution of points.  For example, in some labs, 
the calculations may be very simple, in which case the 
Discussion and Conclusion section would be increased in 
significance.